This paper compares the experimental study of seismic response of a hill site near Tehran and numerical modeling of the test site using a hybrid finite-boundary element code named HYBRID. Both longitudinal and transversal profiles of the hill have been instrumented using Guralp CMG-6TD seismological stations and some hours of ambient noise were recorded. The H/V ratios for each station were calculated and the amplification patterns and corresponding frequencies of each station have been extracted. Then the two profiles has been modeled numerically and excited by vertically incident SV ricker waves with different fundamental frequencies. The medium is assumed to have a linear elastic constitutive behavior. All calculations are executed in time-domain using direct boundary element method. The amplification patterns, both in time domain and frequency domain, have been determined. The similarities and discrepancies between the experimental and numerical methods have been discussed. It was shown that using microtremor would not be an efficient way for estimating the topographic site effect and may not be applied for microzonation studies of the elevated areas
